Ryan sworn in as Sussex’s new Family Court judge

Former Chief Sussex County Prosecutor Paula Ryan was formally sworn into office as Sussex County’s newest Family Court judge on Friday.

By Scott Goss

Former Chief Sussex County Prosecutor Paula Ryan was formally sworn into office as Sussex County’s newest Family Court judge on Friday.

Ryan, who received the oath of office from Judge Randy Holland during a ceremony in the Sussex County Courthouse in Georgetown, was nominated to a 12-year term on the bench by Gov. Jack Markell in November.

She will fill the seat left vacant by the removal of former Family Court Judge John Henriksen, who was relieved of his duties in May following a judicial investigation into improper advances he allegedly made toward a female attorney who was arguing a case before him in 2010.

Holland served as the county’s chief prosecutor starting in 2007 and handled recent high-profile criminal cases such as Earl Bradley, the Lewes pediatrician sentenced to serve more than 14 life sentences after sexually abusing at least 86 patients, and Derrick Powell, who was sentenced to death after shooting and killing Georgetown police officer Chad Spicer.

Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden has nominated longtime prosecutor Peggy Marshall to succeed Ryan as the county’s top cop.

Marshal joined the Delaware Department of Justice as deputy attorney general in 1986. She has worked in the Sussex County prosecutor’s office since 2001, where she prosecuted firearm and motor vehicle fatality cases, headed the felony trial unit and established the felony screening unit.